Comment 64bit Linux is now like Apple! (Score 1) 272
Solidarity with my iPad/iPhone brothers!
*Poors 40 on the sand*
Yeah, this sadly makes me hope other solutions to kill flash take of a bit more..
Adobe (Temporarily?) Kills 64-Bit Flash For Linux 272
An anonymous reader writes "It seems that with the release of the 10.1 security patches, Adobe has, at least temporarily, killed 64-bit Flash for Linux. The statement says: 'The Flash Player 10.1 64-bit Linux beta is closed. We remain committed to delivering 64-bit support in a future release of Flash Player. No further information is available at this time. Please feel free to continue your discussions on the Flash Player 10.1 desktop forums.' The 64-bit forum has been set to read-only."
Comment Re:Fixed. (Score 1) 282
"PIN" Number = "Personal Identification Number" Number
"ATM" Machine = "Automated Teller Machine" Machine
So, unless there was sarcasm I missed, I think the original post was correct.
Submission + - Apple cracks down on the Hymn Project (hymn-project.org) 2
An anonymous reader writes: Ever since the initial launch of the iTunes Music Store, an intrepid group of programmers over at
the Hymn Project have engaged in a marvelous cat-and-mouse
game with Apple. Now they're
finally being hobbled by Apple's lawyers.
The purpose of the project has always been to provide software that can be used to losslessly remove Digital Rights Management (DRM) protection from music purchased through iTunes, so that the buyer may exercise their right of fair use and play the music on non-Apple devices (Hear Your Music aNywhere).
The software has gone through many incarnations. The original hymn has been succeeded by JHymn, QTFairUse6, MyFairTunes, and others. Regardless of the program, the emphasis has always been squarely on fair use — not piracy. Any discussions of piracy have been strongly and actively discouraged on the site's forums.
For years now, Apple has been content to mostly ignore the Hymn Project. At worst, they would introduce subtle changes to new versions of iTunes that would break the Hymn software. Nobody really knows if this was done intentionally, but it was usually just a matter of time before a new solution was found. This seemed like a reasonable approach for Apple to take. After all, why should they care? The DRM was only in place to placate the record companies. Apple CEO Steve Jobs has even expressed his opinion that all music should be free of DRM.
Well, now things have changed. Recently, a new program called Requiem was announced that appears to be a complete crack of the iTunes DRM scheme. Previous programs had relied on various forms of trickery or memory hooks to access the unencrypted audio data — none had ever completely cracked the encryption algorithms.
Requiem seems to have been the last straw. Earlier this week, the ISP hosting the site received a Cease and Desist order from Apple Legal, demanding that all downloads be removed from the site, and that the site post no links to any programs that could remove DRM from Apple music or video. Reportedly, similar C & D orders were also sent to at least one of the project's developers, and to another ISP where Reqiuem had been hosted. Ironically, Requiem was never actually hosted on the Hymn site — merely mentioned and linked to in one of the forums. Nevertheless, the Hymn Project has now come into the crosshairs of Apple's lawyers and, lacking legal resources, has seen no choice but to comply with the order.
The purpose of the project has always been to provide software that can be used to losslessly remove Digital Rights Management (DRM) protection from music purchased through iTunes, so that the buyer may exercise their right of fair use and play the music on non-Apple devices (Hear Your Music aNywhere).
The software has gone through many incarnations. The original hymn has been succeeded by JHymn, QTFairUse6, MyFairTunes, and others. Regardless of the program, the emphasis has always been squarely on fair use — not piracy. Any discussions of piracy have been strongly and actively discouraged on the site's forums.
For years now, Apple has been content to mostly ignore the Hymn Project. At worst, they would introduce subtle changes to new versions of iTunes that would break the Hymn software. Nobody really knows if this was done intentionally, but it was usually just a matter of time before a new solution was found. This seemed like a reasonable approach for Apple to take. After all, why should they care? The DRM was only in place to placate the record companies. Apple CEO Steve Jobs has even expressed his opinion that all music should be free of DRM.
Well, now things have changed. Recently, a new program called Requiem was announced that appears to be a complete crack of the iTunes DRM scheme. Previous programs had relied on various forms of trickery or memory hooks to access the unencrypted audio data — none had ever completely cracked the encryption algorithms.
Requiem seems to have been the last straw. Earlier this week, the ISP hosting the site received a Cease and Desist order from Apple Legal, demanding that all downloads be removed from the site, and that the site post no links to any programs that could remove DRM from Apple music or video. Reportedly, similar C & D orders were also sent to at least one of the project's developers, and to another ISP where Reqiuem had been hosted. Ironically, Requiem was never actually hosted on the Hymn site — merely mentioned and linked to in one of the forums. Nevertheless, the Hymn Project has now come into the crosshairs of Apple's lawyers and, lacking legal resources, has seen no choice but to comply with the order.
Submission + - Athletes reaching limits of natural performance?
O.Tom writes: Asafa Powell's 100m sprint world record of 9.77 seconds may only be half a second slower than the fastest possible time for a human being over that distance.
According to an article in The Australian, a study conducted by Professor John Einmahl from Tilberg University in Germany has calculated that the fastest possible men's time for the 100m sprint is 9.29 seconds.
The professor calculated these values based upon the best performances produced by 1546 male and 1024 female athletes in 14 different disciplines.
The theoretical fastest possible time for the men's marathon may not be far off, with Paul Tergat's marathon record of 2:04.55 only 49 seconds off the calculated best possible time.
According to an article in The Australian, a study conducted by Professor John Einmahl from Tilberg University in Germany has calculated that the fastest possible men's time for the 100m sprint is 9.29 seconds.
The professor calculated these values based upon the best performances produced by 1546 male and 1024 female athletes in 14 different disciplines.
The theoretical fastest possible time for the men's marathon may not be far off, with Paul Tergat's marathon record of 2:04.55 only 49 seconds off the calculated best possible time.
Submission + - What gadgets differentiate nerds nowadays?
wikinerd writes: "In the last few years several gadgets that were previously commonly used mostly by nerds and geeks have been welcomed by the mainstream. Many ordinary people have GPS, camera phones, 3G broadband, PDAs, and other gadgets. I use my PDA for playing with PythonCE, but the device itself is not a nerds's-only gadget anymore, as many people use PDAs nowadays for calendaring and similar uses. The same is true for laser pointers, GPS receivers, and other stuff, which are now becoming commonplace. What gadgets, especially handheld devices, do self-respecting nerds and geeks use nowadays, and what mobile devices do you own? I am not talking about nerdy innovative uses of commonplace devices, or just more powerful PDAs or high-resolution cameras, but rather about mobile gadgets that are too new, strange, or especial to be ever used by mere mortals."
Submission + - MS Allows Kernel Extensions in Vista, API Release
CexpTretical writes: "SearchSecurity.com has an article about "Microsoft's Ben Fathi" announcing " a draft set of application programming interfaces (APIs)" that "have been designed to help security and non-security ISVs develop software that extends the functionality of the Windows kernel on 64-bit systems, in a documented and supported manner,".."without disabling or weakening the protection offered by Kernel Patch Protection."
Microsoft's "Kernel Patch Protection Criteria" Evaluation Document" describes the details of new extension acceptance.
Isn't openness is a wonderful thing?"
Is the Microsoft/Novell Deal a Litigation Bomb? 342
mpapet writes "According to WINE developer Tom Wickline, the Microsoft/Novell deal for Suse support may one day control commercial customers' use of Free Software. Is this the end of commercial OSS developers who are not a part of the Microsoft/Suse pact?" From the article: "Wickline said that the pact means that there will now be a Microsoft-blessed path for such people to make use of Open Source ... 'A logical next move for Microsoft could be to crack down on 'unlicensed Linux' and 'unlicensed Free Software,' now that it can tell the courts that there is a Microsoft-licensed path. Or they can just passively let that threat stay there as a deterrent to anyone who would use Open Source without going through the Microsoft-approved Novell path,' Wickline said." Bruce Perens dropped a line to point out that most of the content actually comes from his post.
